


Fifty

by dramatic owl (snarky_panda)



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: Birthday, Dinner, Family, Fluff, Gen, No one is leaping, Post-Canon, Surprises
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-18
Updated: 2019-04-18
Packaged: 2020-01-15 18:06:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18504280
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarky_panda/pseuds/dramatic%20owl
Summary: Donna plans a surprise for Sam for his fiftieth birthday.





	Fifty

**Author's Note:**

> Pointless fluff written for the fluffbingo challenge on dreamwidth, for the prompt: dinner.

August 8th fell on a Tuesday the year that Sam turned fifty and Donna decided that his party should be on August 5th the Saturday before it so more people would be able to come. Al had been encouraging her to make it a surprise party, but she balked at the idea. There was no way she’d be able to keep from Sam that she was organizing an entire fiftieth birthday party.

“We live in the same house, Al. He’ll know something’s up. Unless you and Beth want to host it.”

Sam was busy working on the retrieval program that morning and afternoon. Now that he’d finally leaped home, he wanted to make sure it worked flawlessly. There were younger scientists on the project, like Sammy Jo Fuller, who wanted to leap too, and the new approach would be to have leapers taking turns and coming home after each leap with a working retrieval program. Sam had been so absorbed in it that it had been easy for Donna and Al to slip away to the cafeteria to talk in private.

“I can keep him distracted for as long as necessary.”

“Every day for the next five weeks?”

He shrugged. “I could do it if I had to.”

She laughed. “If anyone could, you could. But, no, I’ll tell him about the party, let him pick the food he wants for dinner. Maybe I’ll have a separate small surprise for him.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Peach cobbler. Like his mother used to make.”

“Where are you gonna get peach cobbler around here?”

“I’m going to make it myself. I found a cookbook with a recipe.”

Al smirked. “You’re very talented at many things, Donna, but a baker—”

“Oh, be quiet, Al. Anyway, I got good grades in chemistry. I can follow a recipe. You’ll have to get Sam out of the house when I’m making it though.”

His eyes glinted and she swatted her hand at him before he could make another crack.

A few hours later she decided that the recipe in the cookbook might not be sufficient, so she called Sam’s younger sister Katie in the privacy of her office, thinking that maybe Katie had her mother’s old recipe and she could at least try to make it exactly like Thelma Beckett.

The conversation unfortunately became more complicated than she’d anticipated when, early on, she disclosed which cookbook she’d bought.

“That’s not a cobbler,” Katie stated as soon as Donna mentioned the book.

“What?”

“The recipe in that book is not a cobbler, it’s a buckle. I know the book.”

“It says peach cobbler.”

“I know, but it’s really a buckle.”

Katie launched into an explanation of the fine points of cobblers versus buckles versus slumps versus some other things, which made Donna’s head spin.

“Besides,” Katie finally concluded, “cobbler really should be made with a biscuit topping.”

“This is going to be harder than I thought. I may need you to talk me through it over the phone when I make it, if that’s okay.”

“You’ll be fine, Donna. Hey, is this for Sam’s birthday?”

“Yes. I’m just starting to plan a party for him. It’s a big birthday.”

“I know! I was actually gonna call you about that, I was wondering if you were planning anything. I’d like to be part of it, maybe come out there for it if I can.”

“That would be great! The party isn’t going to be a surprise, but you would be. And Tom, if he can make it too. It’s going to be on August 5th, the Saturday before.”

Katie dictated Thelma Beckett’s peach cobbler recipe, which she knew by heart, and Donna scribbled it on a blank page in a notebook that was otherwise filled with equations. They made plans to talk again later that week, and in the meantime Katie was going to try to free up that weekend and look into flights. Donna left unsaid that if Katie was going to come maybe she could make the peach cobbler so it was done right.

She ripped the page with the recipe out of the notebook and stuffed it in her coat pocket. Sam often consulted her equations, and she didn’t want him browsing through her papers and seeing the recipe.

~

Three more phone calls later – the second two to Donna’s office phone because Sam almost intercepted the first call to her cell phone – Katie confirmed that she was coming and she wouldn’t be alone. She was bringing her two teenaged daughters, Joan and Theo, and Tom Beckett was coming too, with his wife.

“That’s great news, Katie. What about his kids?”

Tom’s kids all had kids of their own now; putting everyone up would be a challenge and Donna really wanted to keep this to herself for as long as possible. The more people who knew, the higher the chance of someone inadvertently slipping to Sam. But she would need some assistance pulling it all off without him knowing, especially if Tom’s kids came with their kids; she would have to at least enlist help from Al and Beth.

“I’m not sure. How far is the nearest hotel to you? I know you’re in the middle of the desert.” 

“Socorro is about a half hour away and there are hotels there, but I can try to make arrangements for you to stay with us. Sam and I have some room.”

“Are you sure? If it’s a lot of us—”

“I’m sure. If Tom’s kids decide to come with their kids, I’ll figure out the logistics for rooming all the extra people. But it’ll be really nice for Sam to have everyone around him that whole weekend.”

“Okay. Oh, and Donna, if I can have access to a kitchen, I’ll make the cobbler.”

“I was really hoping you’d offer.”

They were still laughing when they hung up. Donna called Al’s office immediately after.

“You didn’t want to come say hello in person?” he said with mock forlornness. “I’m wounded, Donna.”

“I wasn’t sure if Sam was in there. Listen, what I’m about to tell you has to remain strictly between us. You absolutely cannot tell Sam, and I don’t want anyone else knowing. I want this to be a real surprise.”

“I’ll check with Beth to make sure, but I think we can help out if you don’t have room to put everyone up,” he said when she’d finished telling him about Sam’s family. “You know Beth can keep a secret.”

“Thanks, Al. If all the kids come, we’ll definitely need the extra help. I’ll let you know.”

“So, if Katie’s coming in, does that mean she’s going to be making the peach cobbler instead of you?”

“Are you offering her the use of your kitchen?”

“Absolutely. Especially if—”

“Thanks. Bye, Al.”

Two minutes after she hung up the phone there was a knock on her office door.

“If you’re here to make more cracks about my baking skills, Al, don’t bother coming in,” she called out, loud enough so her voice would carry through the closed door.

It opened and a very confused-looking Sam stood in the doorway.

“What?”

“Oh, sorry, I thought you were Al. How is the retrieval program coming? Are we ready to send Sammy Jo out yet?”

“Not quite, but we’re getting close.” He came over to her behind the desk and kissed her on the lips. “Now, how did Al come to be making cracks about your baking skills?”

“Talking about your birthday.”

Sam stood behind her chair and wound his arms around her, leaned over and rested his chin on the top of her head. “That’s not for another month.”

She reached back to stroke his hair. “This is a big birthday for you though. I’m planning a party, and I’ve been talking to Al about it.”

“Oh? Is that why you screamed at me to stop when I went to pick up your cell phone for you last week?”

“It was going to be a surprise party originally.”

“Mm, afraid I’d catch on, huh.”

“Then I changed my mind and thought you should be part of the planning.” She hesitated. “Unless you don’t want one.”

“A party sounds nice. It’s hard to believe I’m turning fifty though. I spent almost all of my forties leaping.”

“Do you miss it?”

He kissed the top of her head. “No. Sometimes it was exciting, and I did like helping people. But I’m glad to be home. And I can still help people from here. As Al put it, it was time to pass the torch.”

“Al does have his own way of putting things bluntly. I hope you’re not too down about it.”

“No, I’m not.” Sam kissed her once more then moved around her, cleared space on her desk, and hopped up to sit. He grinned at her mischievously, reached out a foot to gently prod her calf. “So what are you baking for me?”

“I’m not sure if I’m baking anything. This is going to be a big bash, with all of our friends. I’ll probably cater dinner in from somewhere and ask them to include dessert. You get to pick though, so let me know what kind of food you’d like to have.”

~

In the last two weeks before Sam’s party Donna was on the verge of bursting, both from anticipation and from anxiety that everything would somehow fall apart.

“Here.” Beth brought two cups over to the kitchen table and set one down in front of Donna. “This is a nice relaxing tea blend.” 

“What’s in it?”

“Chamomile, ginger, other herbs and flavors. I’m going to send you home with several bags of it for the week.”

“Thanks.” The tea was too hot to drink just yet. Donna dipped the bag a couple of times then set the cup aside. She buried her face in her hands and groaned. “Oh God, poor Sam. I’ve been making him crazy every night.”

For seven nights in a row she’d been unable to sleep, instead moving restlessly about the house at two o’clock or some other ungodly hour in the morning, working, cleaning, doing anything but staying still. Each night Sam coaxed her to try to sleep, his face filled with concern, but she’d only been able to lie still for a few minutes before creeping out of bed again.

“I told him I was anxious about all the people coming when he asked me what’s wrong, but I don’t think he believed me. He knows something’s up.”

Sam had a way of looking right into people and understanding them, and she’d been enduring his probing stare for a full week.

“Maybe, but he doesn’t know what it is,” Beth assured her. “The party isn’t a surprise, after all. And Al — and Ziggy — have been working overtime to keep him distracted so he doesn’t figure anything else out too soon.”

Donna lifted her head. “Well, there is that ‘unforeseen’,” she made quotes in the air with her fingers, “problem with Ziggy now. I was not in the room nine years ago when Sam explained to Ziggy what a surprise party is, back when we were planning Al’s sixtieth, but I wish I had been.”

Beth laughed. “I would’ve liked to have heard that conversation, too. So I guess Ziggy is basically faking an illness?”

“Basically.”

The tea was cooled down enough to drink. Donna picked up her cup and took a few sips.

“Mm, very soothing going down.”

“Good. Exactly what you need right now.”

“Everything is ready. I bought his gift. I’ve got decorations for the house, which I’ll put up the afternoon of the party. Sam chose Mama Rita’s for dinner and they’re scheduled to deliver everything by three that day.”

“A buffet of barbecued meat and artery-clogging carbs.”

“Pretty much. I did order some greens too, and coleslaw. And because I’m my mother’s daughter, I probably ordered enough food for twice the number of people that will be there, plus we’re going to have Katie’s peach cobbler. But I’d rather have too much than not enough. We can send people home with leftovers.”

“On our end, we’re all set for Katie. I have most of the ingredients she’ll need here, and we can go out on Thursday to buy fresh peaches and anything else we don’t have.”

Al and Beth were going to put Katie and the girls up on Thursday night, then Beth was giving her the run of her kitchen on Friday to make a couple of batches of peach cobbler. Tom and his wife would be in on Friday afternoon; they would meet up with Katie and the girls at the Calaviccis’ house and stay there until Donna called to let them know that Sam was at home. Then they’d all come over together to surprise him.

“Thank you so much for helping out, Beth. Both of you. I could’ve never pulled this off without your help.”

“We’re happy to help arrange such a great surprise for Sam. How do you like the taste of the tea?”

“It’s good—”

They both started at the sudden loud banging on the front door.

“Al,” Beth said _sotto voce_ , “warning us he’s here with Sam and we should stop talking about anything secret.”

There was the sound of keys rattling for a little bit too long then the door opening, footsteps, and Sam exasperatedly asking Al why he was knocking on his own door.

“I thought I forgot my keys.”

“They’re exactly where they always are.”

They came into the kitchen. Sam leaned over and kissed Donna, then took a seat at the table beside her.

“What’s going on?”

“Beth is introducing me to a tea I’ve never tried called ‘tension tamer’.”

~

Katie and the girls arrived on time and with no mishaps on Thursday. Donna went over to see them and Beth in the early evening before heading home for the night. The good fortune didn’t hold up on Friday; Tom’s plane was delayed.

“Don’t worry,” Beth reassured her over the phone. “It’s only delayed a couple of hours. Why don’t you come to the house now? Al took Sam on a field trip away from the project all day and it doesn’t sound like you’re getting any work done.”

“Do you know where Al took him?”

“On a wild goose chase, no doubt, since it was his job to keep him distracted. You know Al.”

“I do know Al.”

“Come on over, Donna,” she coaxed. “If you’re going to fret you might as well fret in a house that smells like peach cobbler.”

“When you put it that way, I’ll see you in a few minutes.”

Two trays of peach cobbler were ready by the time Donna reached the house and the entire place smelled heavenly.

“We’ll bring the cobbler over to your house tomorrow afternoon,” Beth told her.

“It looks like Tom’s flight is now getting in at eight,” Katie said. “Till he rents the car and drives here, it’ll be close to ten by the time he gets to the house. How late is too late for us to come over tonight instead of tomorrow morning, Donna?”

“I think the cut-off should be midnight. But I hope it won’t be that late.”

“We’ll text you later when everyone is on their way.”

Donna stayed and visited with them until Al called Beth to say he was on his way. Then she went home to prepare dinner and wait for Sam, who returned in a somewhat miffed mood because Al had prevented him from getting any work done that day. She offered to clean up after dinner so he could work in the living room during the evening, which seemed to appease him somewhat.

They were still in the living room when Al texted her at nearly eleven o’clock to say that everyone was on their way over. The doorbell rang less than five minutes later. Sam stopped typing on his laptop at the round table in the corner and looked up, perplexed.

“It’s probably Al,” Donna said from the couch, where she’d been curled up under a blanket, repeatedly reading the same page of a paperback. 

Despite the butterflies in her stomach she managed to keep her tone even.

Sam groaned. “What could he possibly want now? I spent all day with him dragging me all over the place for nothing.”

He went back to typing, not making any move to go the door.

“Well, we shouldn’t just leave him out there. I’ll come with you and help convince him to come back tomorrow.”

With a sigh he nodded, stopped typing, and pushed his chair back. Donna kicked the blanket to the floor, leaped up, and walked with him toward the front door. But instead of going to the door he walked to the front window first and pushed the curtain aside to peer out.

“What are you doing?”

He slid the window open enough to call through it. “What do you want, Al? It’s late.”

There was knocking on the door.

“Oh, Sam, just answer the door. The sooner you do, the faster he’ll be gone.”

Another sigh of exasperation and he finally moved over to the door and opened it. And stood there stunned when his family shouted ‘surprise’.

~

“What do you mean, sending me away, Sam?” Al demanded with mock indignation.

“You almost ruined it, little brother,” Tom laughed, slapping his back. “Leaving us all standing out there.”

“Now everything makes sense,” Sam said, wiping his eyes and laughing too. “Al dragging me all over the place today. Donna losing her mind when I went to grab her phone for her.”

“I didn’t want you to see the number.”

“Who was calling you?”

“Katie.”

“Me,” Katie said at the same time.

“I guess I would’ve found it suspicious if I saw her number on your phone instead of mine. How long have you been planning this?”

“About a month or so. I actually called Katie up for your mom’s peach cobbler recipe and she asked me if I was doing anything for your big five-oh.”

“And then we hatched this plan, and I called Tom and told him about it.”

Sam hugged his brother and sister, his sister-in-law and his nieces again, then he hugged Al and Beth too. “I’m so glad you’re all here.”

Everyone was still congregated by the front door and Donna coaxed them all into the living room where, despite the late hour, they spent hours visiting and catching up.

Sam sat beside Donna with his arm around her, continually glancing over at her and smiling, leaning in to kiss her. She’d been right that having his family around him all weekend – and that included Al and Beth Calavicci – would mean everything to him.

And maybe it would help take the edge off any melancholy he might have felt about turning fifty after missing most of his forties.


End file.
